Hell Maiden's Treasure (地獄美女宝)
by Tales of Gray Wolf
Summary: REQUEST fic. "Love me, Dokuro." During a mission and amid a tragedy, Kisuke is tempted by Momohime, who has the same face as her sister. Pity, regret, the yearning to understand what happened, Kisuke felt taunted. M for romance; Kisuke x Momohime.
1. Kisuke and Momo

***1***

"There is no other beauty." A rising master of the Shinkage School, Yukinojo Yagyu was relatively young, but already had the ambitions of a shogun scale. For the sake of Yagyu, the gods bid him to be the protector of Edo.

There was a well-known tale - - the power to rule was within a gleam, the gleam of metal. The metals inscribed with the name Muramasa, and the ones whom possessed them could partake of the divine rights of Japan's families adopting gods as ancestry. It had been that way for hundreds of years.

"Momohime, daughter of Kagami. She is the only one. She must stay away from those blades. " Yukinojo evoked those words like a possessed being, someone who didn't have his own sense. He had a deep voice destitute of passion, his words evoking that there was no means of changing his choice of goal. Yukinojo turned and looked upon three kneeling bodies. He requested their presence.

They were known to be long time clients of Tokugawa – the Iga. The _Dokurotani_ degenerates. Going by their name alone, the ninja of Skull Valley, it was expected for them to harbor dangerous practices. For dark purposes, they were useful.

"What is he rambling about?" Under a shag of hair, gray and black as shadows, the fierce eyes of young Kisuke looked onward at the Yagyu lord to determine something.

"Still your tongue, Kisuke," retorted a masked and cloaked ninja, his identity fully shrouded.

Anger was clear on Yukinojo's face. He will not admit it openly, but the first daughter of the Narukami turned his hand. It was his hand that wanted to escort her in marriage.

"I will press Kagami to accept me." Yukinojo raised his hand, a finger pointing to Kisuke. "Capture her and the sword. You _must_. Before it's too late!"

In Kisuke's mind, he thought Yukinojo was being a blathering mad man, and he didn't think how urgent it was.

Kisuke ran like the wind, a body over his shoulder. Behind him was the image of a castle, towering above the horizon, surrounded in bright light. Despite his youth, he had seen it many times before due to the current times: the flames of battle.

Damn that Shogunate. They would go that far. Kisuke wasn't the type to think too deeply on one thing, and instead of pondering on the why or what, his feet moved only with the desire to press ahead. Mino and Omi were adjacent were each other, and then further south was the mountains of Iga. Kisuke, known for carrying two-handed weapons on his backside, was able to reach at the far ends of Mino before taking a break. When he did, Kisuke placed the body next to him. The body's makeup lined eyes fluttered. The cargo was completely alive.

"W-what happened? Wasn't I torn apart?" It was groggy, but the first few words from her voice had this singsong delicacy. It forced Kisuke to listen. A young maiden in a pink robe, she held her head as she gradually regained her senses.

"What do you mean?" said Kisuke as she looked at the girl. "There is no mark on you. Today, a skull won't reach you."

"A skull? What do you mean?" Momohime's eyes had a noble sparkle and did not feign her feelings. She was genuinely confused, the words from her pink, puckered lips bearing fear.

"No, no, are you a _shinigami_?"

Kisuke said nothing. A _dokuro_ shinobi, a boy from the Skull Valley, would strike any youth in the heart and slice a head from any woman's neck if needed to. Degenerates, indeed; Kisuke's dark clothing and morose appearance didn't help either, giving Momohime the impression that she was about to dragged to death's realm without her consent.

The sister of Torahime…

Kisuke remembered her so suddenly. This third daughter Momohime had her differences, such as being less rugged and her hair tied up like a primped up princess. Their faces were similar, but there was an obvious contrast. From Kisuke's point of view, the beauty of Torahime came from her resolute aura along with being a woman at the same time. He also recalled her defined breasts.

 _Damn…why did they attack so soon_? _If only I stayed a little longer_ , Kisuke thought.

"Am I dead? Or are you here to slay me?" Momohime shook her head in disbelief at both ideas.

"Momohime Narukami. Don't look back. " Kisuke said. It felt cryptic coming from him. He dragged Momo far enough to not witness the carnage. He found her faint on the ground as smoke billowed through the room. She was unconscious through the whole ideal.

"What do you mean?" Momo asked.

"Look, I don't understand what happened, but it makes me angry." Kisuke walked up and looked straight into the third daughter's eyes. "If you don't want the worse, it's best if you don't ask questions and come to Anya Castle."

"Anya? Why? Why should I oblige this?" Momohime was shaking. She thought of the worse: She was being ransomed by an enemy lord. Kidnapped.

Kisuke didn't want to say it directly as he didn't have any evidence. He didn't remain long to inspect the battle, and scooped her up quickly. In his thoughts, he recognizing her as Torahime and it was a hectic sight at the Kagami residence in Mino. That was where he saw the Lord Kagami lying face down in a pool of blood. He probably had his stomach slit.


	2. A sudden change

"I heard that you're a nice woman. You're flat, but it is fine." Kisuke paid little mind to how Momohime would react to his candid words, despite her face begetting the thoughts from his past. "Your hand in marriage is asked by Yukinojo of the Yagyu family."

"Yukinojo?" Momohime heard his name before. "But, why wouldn't he come?"

Kisuke only blinked his eyes, and then turned to look back at the castle's shadow, reflecting off the orange glare of the flames. "Weren't you supposed to meet him? Last I saw him, that man looked like he was pretty upset." As he watched, no answer came. From what Kisuke gathered, his Lord made plans to marry the third daughter, wishing to meet with Lord Kagami for a condition to cement an alliance through the Demon Blades. However, things were put into haste as if in urgency.

Momo would finally speak. "A meddlesome servant through and through. So, that's your idea isn't it?"

Kisuke turned around swiftly, leering at Momohime, whose voice suddenly became deep with a conceited tone.

"A man's temptation." The Narukami daughter let out a snide chuckle, unbefitting her delicate features. The smiling lips were still bright as a pink rose, but along with her voice, there was a subtle, strong quality in her countenance.

"So, _Dokuro_. Love me."

"What the Hell are you talking about?!"

"Do you want to touch me that badly?" Momohime's mouth curved into a smirk. Kisuke said nothing, quite surprised at not only just the sudden change in person but also his disclosed identity. She wasn't particularly attractive to him. Too primly, and was flat. Still, looking at her, a flash of Torahime's face entered his mind. They were near identical and that was all; Kisuke was more concerned than anything.

"Yukinojo of the Yagyu Shinkage School. Now that I think about it. Actually, I want you to teach me how to be a wife."

"What?!" Kisuke was uncertain of what the woman was scheming. However, a mission was a mission. He knew that she was Torahime's sister, and her proper escort was for the sake of the Narukami family and the protection of the swords. After what just happened, Kisuke wanted to tolerate her enough to get close to the blades, and to find out the cause of the destruction.

The destruction of the Kagami Manor and the Narukami line.

"Before we go to Saya," Kisuke took in a breath to relax and cast aside his cargo's foolish talk, "I will show you the secrets of the mountains. Just to make sure there are no enemies." Now, he was back to his customary, matter-of-fact voice. Both would agree and would cross into northern Omi Region, cutting into its outlands where the mountains swelled. Kisuke could sense the vapor caves, situated deep in the crevices, usually a hiding space for wild animals such as monkeys and foxes.

Kisuke and Momohime's fates crossed more than they knew.


End file.
